tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50084489973984183152019-01-10T04:28:51.141-05:00thankhughThe backchannel for Hugh, the lifestyle &amp; design store in Midtown, Detroit. Stories, discoveries, and cool stuff.Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-7298816276873350992017-06-01T22:33:00.000-04:002017-06-01T22:42:03.081-04:00Block Chromatics
For years and years I have come across pieces of a dinnerware pattern called Chromatics made by the Block China company. I even got a full set, still in boxes, as part of a lot I bought from a design professor friend back in 2001. It's just so cool and always been a favorite, and oddly it has not been well-documented online.
Graphic, stackable and of obviously high quality, the
ChromaticsJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-73974761897236877292017-05-08T23:01:00.002-04:002017-05-09T11:08:59.347-04:00Nordiska Treasury of Rya RugsA recent find: two catalogs, Nordiskas Design, published by Nordiska Industri AB, a Swedish manufacturer of rya rugs. One from 1967, one from 1968.
The rya rug sometimes gets lumped in with the general "shag" rug trend of the 60s and 70s, but it is an age-old textile technique that goes back thousands of years. From the catalog:
As a warming quilt it was found during most the 18th Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-1595203361750237542017-04-26T17:27:00.001-04:002017-04-26T17:51:27.115-04:00Richard NissenThere were many companies producing teak housewares in the latter half of the 20th century, and the biggest by far was Dansk Designs. The originality and quality of the designs produced made them a sensation from their introduction in the 1950s well into the 1980s (and of course again today). The history of the company and the designer, Jens Quistgaard, is well-documented.
Less is written Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-49675700062602905052016-07-18T15:27:00.000-04:002018-12-17T10:41:06.452-05:00Den Permanente Catalog 1972 (Selections)
As a follow-up to my post about Den Permanente, here are some pages from the 1972 catalog.
Borge Mogensen sofa, chair, trolley and table, Kvadrat rug,
Top: H. Vestergaard Jensen sideboard and dining table, Larsen & Madsen chairs.
Bottom: Hans Wegner everything, Nanna Ditzel nursery chair.
Poul Kjaerholm marble dining table with maple extension ring, leather chairs.
Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-48504056852657566062016-05-04T11:50:00.000-04:002016-05-10T17:58:16.094-04:001986
"I don't like country and western. I don't like rock music, I don't like rockabilly or rock and roll particularly.
I don't like much, really, do I? But what I do like, I love passionately."
Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-54505247071220382852016-04-27T09:36:00.000-04:002016-05-05T15:47:12.655-04:00Get ClockedThis post is about how great things end up in the craziest places. Two years ago, in a tiny house where a couple had lived for decades on Detroit's far east side - a working class neighborhood during its best days - an estate sale listing with these pics shows up:
This was just around the corner from the spot where that guy was beaten by a mob after he accidentally hit a Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-10381615624771171102016-04-25T14:44:00.000-04:002016-05-05T15:46:31.125-04:00ErosOnline advertising has really pulled the rug out from under magazine publishing, at least in its mass-distributed form. One of the byproducts of this has been the rise in popularity of the specialty magazine (or journal, or bookazine, or magbook or whatever). They tend to have a higher price point than your typical newsstand read, and they are beautifully printed and have great, specialized Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-79681748745027800552016-04-21T15:35:00.000-04:002016-05-02T15:08:54.714-04:00GlasswareI pick up a lot of vintage glassware. It goes with the gig.
Some of these are in constant rotation in my own household, some are in (or will go) in the shop, some I just pick up to use for a bit and resell online, because I can't just leave them behind.
Sometimes in photos the details aren't really discernible, glass being transparent and all. But all of these are handmade, the Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-21156990444271244262016-04-18T12:36:00.000-04:002016-05-17T13:12:44.436-04:00Den PermanenteA couple weeks ago I came across some simple teak bar boards. I grabbed them because vintage barware does well in the store, and frankly a nice bar board is a great find under any circumstances, new or vintage. Each had a price sticker from a store unknown to me called “Den Permanente.” I figured they were import items, usually a solid selection, and moved on.
Obviously once I was home I did Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-6656955512522064912016-04-04T15:56:00.000-04:002016-04-28T15:57:03.136-04:00Feeling CordialDoing some spring reorganizing this week and came across one of my favorite drink styling photos ever.
It has served as an inspiration on several occasions, including as part of the invitation to a cocktail party I held at my swank Lafayette Towers apartment during the 2008 election cycle and the subsequent piece I did for Detroit Public Radio about partisan politics and the healing power Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-16421931180553374632016-03-14T11:10:00.000-04:002016-04-29T18:13:22.768-04:00Speaking Into Your ExistenceApparently it really works.
A short time ago I mentioned how a guy I know on social media posts that he is speaking into his existence, the net effect being that he will maintain a positive attitude and have a week of good things. Having a bad run at thrifting myself, I tried to speak into my existence for, among other things, some of Ulla Procope's Ruska dinnerware for Arabia but it didn't workJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-90789631929916854032016-03-10T17:23:00.000-05:002016-05-05T15:50:58.182-04:00And Now Ladies & Gentlemen, Here's GraceGrace Jones was having a rather good year in 1985. She was in a James Bond film, back when that mattered. And she released the concept album Slave to the Rhythm, one of her most successful commercial releases. And shortly before that, in the July issue of Playboy, she appeared with her lover at the time Dolph Lundgren in a series of photographs by Helmut Newton.
The Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-24084429900069363582016-03-06T09:37:00.000-05:002016-04-28T15:53:13.120-04:00Deliver MeThis time of year is such a bummer, winter just won't let get go. This morning this song was in my head, "Deliver Me" by The Beloved.
Back in the early Aughts this song was on one of the Hed Kandi "Winter Chill" compilation cds we used to sell at my old store Mezzanine, so it brings back some good memories of that. I didn't discover the video until later, but now I love its 1996 moment. Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-55683281829445998022016-02-26T11:32:00.000-05:002016-04-17T16:52:47.846-04:00Martin BurgersDean Martin's contribution to Dinah Shore's 1966 The Celebrity Cookbook.
Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-89744203522085468432016-02-22T13:00:00.002-05:002016-05-05T15:51:39.545-04:00House Beautiful IndeedOne of my favorite homes, located on the water near where I spent some of my formative years, is the Hawkins Ferry house in Grosse Pointe.
W. Hawkins Ferry is best known for authoring the definitive book on Detroit architecture, The Buildings of Detroit. But he was also a philanthropist, art collector, educator and modernist and was responsible for such great things as the core of the Detroit Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-26372810999379567412016-02-18T16:30:00.004-05:002016-04-28T15:58:44.097-04:00AddictionAs I drove past Greektown Casino this morning I saw an elderly woman getting out of a cab to go in for, presumably, a day of nickel slots. I questioned to myself how someone could find that entertaining, and thought about the way that people get addicted to the high of winning and just end up losing. What a terrible thing, don't do it little old lady!
And then I stopped and reprimanded myself Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-60687635029818635552016-02-14T11:07:00.005-05:002016-04-28T15:56:00.303-04:00Ferry & JerryBryan Ferry, with Jerry Hall giving Jerry Hall. Before the heartache. In honor of Valentine's Day.
Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-42898159853822169752016-02-10T17:21:00.000-05:002016-04-28T15:59:10.691-04:00Exotic WoodAn unexpectedly satisfying week at the thrift stores. Thanks February.
Clockwise from upper left: Part of a set of really hip cocktail glasses from an unknown manufacturer, but basically a stemmed version of the Libbey St. Regis cocktail glass; sitting on a stack of Brazilian rosewood veneer chargers from Japan.
Dansk Kobenstyle pot in white; on top of a Dansk Rare Woods tray, this one in Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-86686766677204444052016-02-08T18:36:00.000-05:002016-04-28T15:57:38.867-04:00Source MaterialThe old Playboy buying/gift guides from the 60s and 70s are some of the highlights of the magazine, and early on were part of the inspiration for the first Hugh pop up. The products were vetted, the styling was straightforward, and for a lover of vintage stuff there is always something cool to see.
Take, for example, this bar gear guide from 1961. A Dansk Fjord bar tool set was $15 (about $120 Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-20125705966827090892016-02-05T14:22:00.001-05:002016-02-18T15:09:59.490-05:00RebootI recently spent some time cleaning out dead links from my bookmarks folder, and was dismayed to see so many blogs I used to follow have disappeared. It's like blogging stopped in 2012. Which it kind of did, with social media becoming the preferred way to connect online. But all that great information and inspiration disappeared too.
As a small business on social media, it can be difficult to Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-37467053772658693012014-02-18T17:06:00.002-05:002016-04-25T11:34:26.713-04:00Which watchWe sell some great watches, specifically the reissued 1970s Braun wristwatches. We love them, especially this digital baby.
1978 Braun DW30 Digital Watch reissue, Dietrich Lubs & Dieter Rams
We don't sell any of the watches below featured in the August 1969 issue of Playboy. They don't even make any of them anymore. But they remind us to buy cool watches while the gettin' is good. From Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-16810590611180098272013-04-03T16:10:00.001-04:002016-04-25T11:32:53.750-04:00Detroit's Own Mad MenMadison Avenue wasn't the only place where independent ad agencies thrived back in the day – Detroit had its own version of Mad Men in the eponymous Ross Roy agency.
Ross Roy, a portrait. Actually, the portrait.
Ross Roy, who started as an automobile salesman, founded his agency in 1926 in Detroit with the Dodge Brothers Corp. as the major client. When Dodge was acquired by Chrysler in 1927Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-40528673707955005342012-11-26T00:00:00.002-05:002016-02-05T14:57:50.362-05:00The Big OpeningIt's been just over a week since the opening party and I've only now had the chance to sit down and try to collect my thoughts. Here they are: Holy Shit.
You kids sure love a party. Best guess is over 300 folks showed up to welcome Hugh to Midtown. All I know is we went through six cases of bubbly (and three bottles of San Pellegrino) in four hours. Drunks, the lot of you. Come back soon.
Here Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-59078116087563296132012-11-12T12:56:00.002-05:002012-11-26T00:07:05.847-05:00Almost There.Even Playboy magazine is anxious for Hugh to open. No need to wait much longer - Hugh opens at 3pm on Friday, November 16. We're finally there!
Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5008448997398418315.post-22478587697184793662012-03-08T11:22:00.004-05:002012-03-08T11:36:33.509-05:00Happy Hugh Year!Yeah, I'm a little late to the game with that, but I like to think of this whole year as the Hugh Year so I'm gonna run with it! Here are a couple updates about Hugh.
Things are off to a good start and things are really ramping up. There's a lot of background work that goes into starting a small business, and I'm really fortunate that the Hatch Detroit prize comes with some important donated Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06290785771819621713noreply@blogger.com1